George R.R. Martin

Here's the only drawbacks to reading George R.R. Martin's the Song
of Ice and Fire series: they are not self-contained stories,
cannot be read singly, and must be read in order. And, most
horrible of all, Martin is running way behind in his writing.

The series is projected (at the moment) to be seven books in length. A
Feast for Crows (Song of Ice and Fire, Book 4), was more than three
years overdue and A Dance with Dragons four.

The story takes place in another world, sort of medieval, and
involves the conflicts between seven great noble houses and
their schemes for the prize of the throne. Naturally, there
are elements of magic, otherworldly creatures, strange religions,
swordplay and battles, and all the usual paraphernalia of
the world of fantasy.

The themes are dark and extremely adult. We are talking incest,
murder, insanity, vengeance, unbridled greed and ambition,
sadism and more. Sometimes we descend into pure horror. Sometimes
the humor is so wickedly funny we laugh out loud.

In my opinion, A Song of Ice and Fire are the best fantasy books
ever written.

The books are narrated from the viewpoints of various characters
chapter-by-chapter. These characters are not all the same
in each book. Some die. (Yes. Major characters die.) Some
wander off, and we don't know what is happening to them.

Some are seemingly very evil characters, but they grow and change
and we find out things about them that change our view. Some
are good characters whose experience embitters them and they
change, and we grieve and worry. We find ourselves liking
"bad" people. We find ourselves disliking "good"
people. All these people are fully three-dimensional, evolving
over time as we come to know them, as they age and gain new
experiences and new insights. Just like real life.

Martin has achieved the Holy Grail of writing - near perfect (I would
say perfect, but the series isn't done) characterization (the
hardest thing for any writer, and especially lacking in so
many genre books).

But that's not all. The books are filled with edge-of-your-seat
excitement, cliff-hangers, shocking plot twists, and agonizingly
ambiguous hints of what's to come. It's a puzzle to mull over,
a challenge to be met, the frustration of wanting more, more,
more (when will that next book come!).

We leave each chapter with regret that we're left to wait and
see what will happen to that person next. Yet, we're eager
to start the next chapter and find out what's happening in
other parts of the world and to other characters. The cliff-hanger
endings of each book drive us mad.

We see their mistakes and wrong turnings. If only they would
do this, if only she would say that, if only they could meet
up. Why is Sansa such a twit! If only Arya would learn to
control her temper! Oh no, not that! Arghh!

They are real people. We care. We are invested in their fates.
Probably, we are all rooting for a certain someone to win
the throne - we are partisan, we take sides, we are involved.

And then, of course, there's the wolves. And the dragons. And
the resurrections. And the Others.

With enough humor to break the tension, we say "whew",
draw a breath, try to be patient, and pray for Martin to hurry.

I can count on the fingers of one hand the authors I buy in
hardback. We own the books of A Song of Ice and Fire
in hardback.

It you are bored waiting for the books to arrive, check out the HBO series Game of Thrones. Peter Dinklage
won an emmy in 2011 for his portrayal of Tyrion Lannister - we salute him and assume he's properly appreciative of George R. R.
Martin writing one of the best characters of all time, in any genre, and making that character short.

A Game of Thrones is a contemporary masterpiece of
fantasy. The cold is returning to Winterfell, where
summers can last decades and winters a lifetime. A time
of conflict has arisen in the Stark family, as they
are pulled from the safety of their home into a whirlpool
of tragedy, betrayal, assassination, plots and counterplots.
Each decision and action carries with it the potential
for conflict as several prominent families, comprised
of lords, ladies, soldiers, sorcerers, assassins and
bastards, are pulled together in the most deadly game
of all--the game of thrones." - book description.

"A comet the color of blood and flame cuts across the sky.
And from the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding
shores of Winterfell, chaos reigns. Six factions struggle
for control of a divided land and the Iron Throne of
the Seven Kingdoms, preparing to stake their claims
through tempest, turmoil, and war. It is a tale in which
brother plots against brother and the dead rise to walk
in the night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan
boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous
sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of
the Moon to ravage the countryside. Against a backdrop
of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, victory
may go to the men and women possessed of the coldest
steel...and the coldest hearts. For when kings clash,
the whole land trembles." - book description.

"Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another
in disfavor, and still the wars rage as violently as
ever, as alliances are made and broken. Joffrey, of
House Lannister, sits on the Iron Throne, the uneasy
ruler of the land of the Seven Kingdoms. His most bitter
rival, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced,
the victim of the jealous sorceress who holds him in
her evil thrall. But young Robb, of House Stark, still
rules the North from the fortress of Riverrun. Robb
plots against his despised Lannister enemies, even as
they hold his sister hostage at Kings Landing,
the seat of the Iron Throne. Meanwhile, making her way
across a blood-drenched continent is the exiled queen,
Daenerys, mistress of the only three dragons still left
in the world....But as opposing forces maneuver for
the final titanic showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings
arrives from the outermost line of civilization. In
their vanguard is a horde of mythical Others--a supernatural
army of the living dead whose animated corpses are unstoppable.
As the future of the land hangs in the balance, no one
will rest until the Seven Kingdoms have exploded in
a veritable storm of swords." - book description.

"With the death of the monstrous King Joffrey, Cersei is ruling
as regent in Kings Landing. Robb Starks
demise has broken the back of the Northern rebels, and
his siblings are scattered throughout the kingdom like
seeds on barren soil. Few legitimate claims to the once
desperately sought Iron Throne still exist--or they
are held in hands too weak or too distant to wield them
effectively. The war, which raged out of control for
so long, has burned itself out.

But
as in the aftermath of any climactic struggle, it is
not long before the survivors, outlaws, renegades, and
carrion eaters start to gather, picking over the bones
of the dead and fighting for the spoils of the soon-to-be
dead. Now in the Seven Kingdoms, as the human crows
assemble over a banquet of ashes, daring new plots and
dangerous new alliances are formed, while surprising
faces--some familiar, others only just appearing--are
seen emerging from an ominous twilight of past struggles
and chaos to take up the challenges ahead." - book
description.

Originally
to be part of A Dance of Dragons, this one follows
primarily Brienne, the Maid of Tarth, in her search for the Stark daughters,
Arya and her continuing education in the school of hard knocks, and Cersei as
she slips into paranoid insanity while seeking to remain Regent and ruler of the Seven Kingdoms.
We learn more of the Ironmen (Greyjoys), Dornish customs and politics, and the Eastern Kingdoms. Sam Tarly features here as well, on a
mission to protect Mance Rayder's son and become a maester at the Citadel, per Jon's command.

For fans, this is a pretty boring book, with no major game changers and little excitement, especially since our
favorite characters are all missing. Jon
Stark, Tyrion Lannister and Daenerys Targaryen are all
missing here and will not return till A Dance of
Dragons. *Cries*

"n the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the
balance once again--beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east,
Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as
queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has three times three thousand
enemies, and many have set out to find her. Yet, as they gather, one young man embarks
upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely different goal in mind.

To the north lies the mammoth Wall of ice and stone--a structure only as strong as those guarding it. There,
Jon Snow, 998th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, will face his greatest challenge yet. For he has powerful
foes not only within the Watch but also beyond, in the land of the creatures of ice.

And from all corners, bitter conflicts soon reignite, intimate betrayals are perpetrated, and a grand cast of
outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves, will face seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
Some will fail, others will grow in the strength of darkness. But in a time of rising restlessness, the tides of
destiny and politics will lead inevitably to the greatest dance of all. . . ." product description.

A Dance with Dragons is better than its predecessor, but still lacking the level of excitement and fast-paced
action of the first three books. Like almost all fantasy authors, Martin is using these middle books to position his players
upon the board and ready the scene for the final action. Even the game-changer revealed in the middle of the book was a
bit *shrug* ho hum. Still, it's wonderful to return to Jon, Daenerys and Tyrion, as well as interesting minor characters
such as Theon Greyjoy, Davos, the Martells, etc.

Initially, the book runs chronologically concurrently with Feast for Crows, though about three quarters of the way
through, the timelines catch up and we are given snippets of the current situation with Jaime, Cersei, Arya and a few others. Aside from
Jon Snow's preparations to embrace the wildlings and prepare for a winter of fighting the Others, most of the action
takes place in the eastern free cities and slave kingdoms. Tyrion is making his way to Daenerys, with multiple adventures
along the way. Wracked by both guilt and glee in having killed Tywin Lannister, his character remains a delight to read. Meanwhile,
Daenerys seems to have lost her way and it truly becomes a bit tedious waiting for her to get a grip on what she needs to do.

Overall, this book was a pleasure to read, but a leisurely pleasure with very little in the way of the "Oh Sh*t" or "Oh WoW" moments
we've come to expect from Martin.

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